I was inspired to write this post by one made by scribbit earlier this week after she reviewed a comic book. The ensuing discussion revolved around age appropriate images and the penchant of comic book authors to draw super heroines with 40 double Ds.
As a marketing professional, with 20 plus years in the business, including a substantial amount of time marketing products to children, I’m keenly aware of the trends in marketing to children. And, now that I am a parent, more than a little concerned. Whether it is comic books, movies or licensed toys, the trend in the industry is to target younger. That is, as marketers grapple to find larger and larger markets for their products, they target younger and younger.
Marketing young children toys that are based on restricted movies and Mature rated video games is a common industry practice. A report in 2000 by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission exposed how the media industries actively target young children with violent entertainment meant for adults. Among their findings was the fact that action toys, based on characters from video games rated Teen and Mature, were labelled suitable for children (sometimes as young as 4 or 5 years old).
If you had a niggling feeling that you were not exposed to this kind of content as a child…you were right. While we often blithely accept the suggested ages recommended on packages, assuming manufacturers have our best interests at heart, they operate by a different set of rules.
In general, toy manufacturers must meet toy safety guidelines that include – no small pieces in products manufactured for children under 3 and not sharp edges for children under 8 years old. But, and this is a big one – foreign manufacturers and online retailers, need not include that information.
Even more disturbing are the guidelines, or lack of, for marketing of age appropriate content. The Gore (Tipper) and Clinton (Hillary) team have made some progress over the last 10 years in establishing guidelines that, at least address the most violent and sexually explicit video games, movies and music, by establishing SELF-REGULATORY guidelines. That is, manufacturers are not bound by these guidelines but, rather encouraged to comply.
Alas, annual FTC reports continue to find a high degree of non compliance. And, this does not even address the trickle down of this type of marketing to other children’s products, including comic books, toys and clothing.The result:
The ubiquitous nature of sexual imagery and content has "de-sensitized parents" to its impact on children, who don't understand much of it and sometimes even find it scary, Levin said. Parents "have come to accept such sexualized content as Britney Spears, Bratz dolls and professional wrestling females as a regular part of even young children's environment."
While parents do have some good resources , it’s a dizzying array, sponsored by a variety of socially conscious organizations, not the government and not the industry. What’s a parent to do?
In my home, we rely on constant vigilance, active previewing and minimal purchases. Since this can be somewhat exhausting, as well as unrealistic, we have developed a simpler system. I’m immediately suspicious of books, movies, videos, toys and anything else developed prior to 1975.
Simple, but it works
As a marketing professional, with 20 plus years in the business, including a substantial amount of time marketing products to children, I’m keenly aware of the trends in marketing to children. And, now that I am a parent, more than a little concerned. Whether it is comic books, movies or licensed toys, the trend in the industry is to target younger. That is, as marketers grapple to find larger and larger markets for their products, they target younger and younger.
Marketing young children toys that are based on restricted movies and Mature rated video games is a common industry practice. A report in 2000 by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission exposed how the media industries actively target young children with violent entertainment meant for adults. Among their findings was the fact that action toys, based on characters from video games rated Teen and Mature, were labelled suitable for children (sometimes as young as 4 or 5 years old).
If you had a niggling feeling that you were not exposed to this kind of content as a child…you were right. While we often blithely accept the suggested ages recommended on packages, assuming manufacturers have our best interests at heart, they operate by a different set of rules.
In general, toy manufacturers must meet toy safety guidelines that include – no small pieces in products manufactured for children under 3 and not sharp edges for children under 8 years old. But, and this is a big one – foreign manufacturers and online retailers, need not include that information.
Even more disturbing are the guidelines, or lack of, for marketing of age appropriate content. The Gore (Tipper) and Clinton (Hillary) team have made some progress over the last 10 years in establishing guidelines that, at least address the most violent and sexually explicit video games, movies and music, by establishing SELF-REGULATORY guidelines. That is, manufacturers are not bound by these guidelines but, rather encouraged to comply.
Alas, annual FTC reports continue to find a high degree of non compliance. And, this does not even address the trickle down of this type of marketing to other children’s products, including comic books, toys and clothing.The result:
The ubiquitous nature of sexual imagery and content has "de-sensitized parents" to its impact on children, who don't understand much of it and sometimes even find it scary, Levin said. Parents "have come to accept such sexualized content as Britney Spears, Bratz dolls and professional wrestling females as a regular part of even young children's environment."
While parents do have some good resources , it’s a dizzying array, sponsored by a variety of socially conscious organizations, not the government and not the industry. What’s a parent to do?
In my home, we rely on constant vigilance, active previewing and minimal purchases. Since this can be somewhat exhausting, as well as unrealistic, we have developed a simpler system. I’m immediately suspicious of books, movies, videos, toys and anything else developed prior to 1975.
Simple, but it works
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2 comments:
I'm glad to see that what started as just a silly product review gave people something to consider. I hadn't intended to be so thought provoking! :)
Thanks.
Scribbit- You are often, if not always, thought provoking! Thanks for stopping by!
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